Detroit emergency manager Kevyn Orr has a slew of powers at his disposal — and a slew of problems bigger than the City Council. / Eric Seals/Detroit Free Press

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The Detroit Free Press Editorial Board

In a shift from his initial hands-off approach to the City Council, Detroit emergency manager Kevyn Orr is taking an active role in stage-managing the council’s make-up.

Orr has played a direct part in the de facto departure of three council members, despite apparent conflicts with the Detroit City Charter or state law. The statutory justification for those moves is thin, but it’s also a bad precedent. Orr has bigger fish to fry; while the EM is empowered to disregard the city’s charter, that’s a power that should be used sparingly — and only when essential to the city’s restructuring.

Detroit City Council President Pro Tem Gary Brown was hired by Orr at an audacious salary of $225,000 a year to serve as the city’s chief compliance officer, a newly created position. The danger in this appointment is its appearance: It seems like a spoil to Brown, who has been the most loyal council member to the state’s efforts to intervene in Detroit

A charter provision bars public servants from doing business with the city for a full year; Orr’s spokesman says that a section of the state’s emergency manager law allows the EM to hire “auditors and other technical personnel” as needed, notwithstanding charter provisions. Brown, a veteran of the Detroit Police Department, has been a rational and informed voice on the council — does that service qualify Brown as “technical personnel,” charged with ensuring that service delivery reform is implemented? We’re not convinced.

Former Councilman Kwame Kenyatta, frequently absent because of health problems, announced his resignation last week. Orr’s spokesman said the emergency manager told Kenyatta to return to work or face losing his pay. Two days later, the spokesman said, Kenyatta was gone.

And then there’s Charles Pugh. The Detroit City Council president has been missing in action for three formal council sessions (that’s about two weeks), despite a charge from Orr to show up to work by 5 p.m. Wednesday or lose his job. Pugh had asked for medical leave, but Orr rejected that request.

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On Thursday, Orr issued an order stripping Pugh of his pay and the title of council president — it turns out the EM can’t fire Pugh.

Pugh’s situation is more complicated than Kenyatta’s. The mother of a Detroit Public Schools student is suing Pugh, the City of Detroit, DPS and the Frederick Douglass Academy for Boys, alleging that Pugh engaged in inappropriate behavior while serving as a mentor to her son. No criminal charges have been filed.

Still, Pugh has an obligation to the residents of Detroit to step forward, explain his absence and say whether he can continue to do his job as an elected official. He is only contributing to the circus that the City Council has become by staying in hiding.

Orr’s spokesman says the emergency manager is setting an example, that Detroit’s bad old days are done, and that city workers, from the cleaning crew to the council president, must do an honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay.

We agree, and there’s no question that council members shouldn’t be taking a paycheck if they don’t show up to work. But it’s unclear whether Michigan’s emergency manager law gives Orr that authority. The law says the EM must authorize the exercise of power of the governing body of a local government in receivership, but makes no mention of action against individual members. Once again, the rationale is thin.

On the plus side, Orr has said he doesn’t favor the appointment of new council members to fill the vacant or soon-to-be-vacant seats. While continuing the normal processes of government is important, the logistics of finding a qualified appointee to fill a seat for just six months (it would be irresponsible to tap a council candidate for the job) makes the process unrealistic. New council members will be elected in November; that’s an acceptable time frame.